Here at Citi Health we are dedicated to the concept of preventative healthcare across the board, and we continue to proudly support the work of Amref Health Africa, making an annual donation as part of our ‘Every Jab Gives Back ‘campaign.
This means every time you book a vaccination clinic with Citi Health you know you’re also helping to deliver preventative healthcare to communities in Africa who otherwise would not have this access.
For World Immunization Week this year we wanted to celebrate some of the incredible progress which has been made in the past 50 years and also to meet some of the local heroes delivering Amref Health Africa’s work.
Immunisation facts and figures from WHO:
Immunization has saved 6 lives every minute since 1974, according to the World Health Organisation
Vaccines currently protect against more than 30 life-threatening diseases
In the past 50 years, vaccination accounts for 40% of the improvement in infant survival
More children now live to see their first birthday and beyond than at any other time in human history
The measles vaccine alone accounts for 60% of those lives saved
Under the banner, ‘Immunization for All is Humanly Possible’, The World Health Organisation aims this year’s campaign to ensure even more children, adolescents, adults – and their communities – are protected against vaccine-preventable diseases.
With a similar goal in mind, our partner charity Amref Health Africa works hard every day to bring healthcare to remote African communities. To explore this topic a little more this week seemed like a good time to meet some of Amref’s dedicated medics working hard to serve remote villages which don’t otherwise have access to healthcare resources.
‘The Village Doctor’ Fanizo Simenti
© Amref Health Africa/Amaru Photography
"I play a key role in connecting the health centre to the community," says Fanizo Simenti.
Simenti is a trained community health worker, and for the villages in his district (he is responsible for 21 in total) he is usually the only health worker they will have access to. He’s become known as the "village doctor".
Simenti provides preventive services like infant and child immunisation under the National Expanded Program on Immunization, and treatment for illnesses such as malaria, pneumonia, diarrhoea, and eye infections in children under five. He also monitors their growth and nutrition, teaching parents how to care for their children.
"Each [of the 21 outreaches] has its day in the month," he explains. Covering such a wide area by bicycle is no easy task. "Yes, I love the community," he says. "When I call them to talk about health issues, they come." Amref Health Africa is expanding outreach clinics in hard-to-reach areas like Katenje, where essential healthcare is often provided under trees or in informal setups. These makeshift clinics are crucial lifelines in areas where hospitals are over 20km away.
Watch Amref CEO Dr Githinji Gitahi on Amref’s work to increase child vaccination rates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpbQNHtmf5c
The community midwife Patricia Moonde
© Amref Health Africa/David Brazier
Patricia Moonde, a midwife from Ndola, Zambia, has been a midwife and a nurse for over twenty years. Ndola is in central Zambia, in Copper Belt Province. Here she is pictured providing one of the many services she’s responsible for: immunisation outreach drives for infant routine immunisations. In Zambia, only 70% of children are fully immunised (Ministry of Health, Zambia 2024).
Being a midwife involves providing maternity care from preconception to post-natal services. It is a discipline which requires attention to support mothers throughout their journey – as each woman’s journey is different.
Amref works with midwives like Patricia to provide tailored refresher training courses to ensure they are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to provide services their communities need. Patricia received vital training on responding to obstetric emergencies before these patients are referred on to specialist hospitals.
Watch more from Patricia on her journey to become a midwife, and how she inspired her daughter Esther to become a nurse-midwife: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRtKwQCMGBk
Health Surveillance Assistant Emmanuel Qongwane
© Amref Health Africa/CNfilms
Emmanuel Qongwane has been a Health Surveillance Assistant (HSA) in Malawi for 18 years. His responsibilities include conducting integrated outreach clinics which offer:
· Antenatal and postnatal care,
· Family planning,
· HIV Testing and Counseling (HTC),
· Growth monitoring and nutrition assessment,
· Immunizations, and
· Health education sessions
These services ensured that children received vaccinations to protect them from diseases, and their growth was monitored to detect malnutrition early. Health talks conducted at these clinics educated the community on disease prevention and health living. The outreach clinics also helped identify malnourished children who could then be referred for treatment, preventing future complications.
Each outreach clinic in Emmanuel’s area used to serve between 185-215 people, making a significant impact on the community’s health. However the last outreach clinic in Chidongo catchment area was conducted in January 2025.
Many people in Emmanuel’s area struggle to travel to healthcare facilities because the journey is simply too costly – way beyond their means. This can lead to severe health complications that could have been prevented with early intervention.
Cuts to international aid mean that the future of these integrated clinics is under threat.
The absence of outreach clinics will create the following challenges:
• Without regular monitoring, cases of malnutrition may go undetected, leading to severe health issues.
• Transport challenges for HSAs as covering large distances without logistical support limits their ability to provide care efficiently.
• Many community members simply cannot afford to travel to health centres, leading to delayed treatment and worsened health outcomes.
• Without outreach clinics, many children may miss their vaccines, putting them at risk of preventable diseases, leading to high numbers of unvaccinated children.
As a dedicated health worker, Emmanuel will find it hard to see preventable complications arise in his community due to the suspension of outreach clinics. The outreach clinics allowed him to do his job effectively, ensuring that even the most remote communities received the healthcare they needed.
Find out more about the impact the cuts are having on health workers like Emmanuel and the communities they serve – visit: https://amrefuk.org/campaigns/usaid-cuts
